There’s something wrong. Correct, this is an Alpine logo and it is indeed not on a sports car, as it should be. This is the front screen of an SUV, the Renault Austral Esprit Alpine. It gives such a people mover just a little more cachet, they must have thought at Renault.
Remember: Renault CEO Luca de Meo wants to put Alpine back on the map as exclusive and sporty fire. Such a logo on an SUV seems like a strange way to achieve that goal, but what do I know about marketing. So the Austral is officially standing in front of the pile as an Alpine Actros.
That poor car can’t help it either. But what a rape of one’s own history, to want to bathe a good citizen SUV in the aura of the Alpine brand. Three months after an unforgettable test drive in the Alpine A110 S, I drove the Austral with blue A and I can assure you; the spirit of Alpine is infinitely far away.
That in itself is not a disaster. It’s an SUV, the thing has to be big and economical and make boomers forget about the Kadjar, nothing else. On the other hand, that is precisely his problem. He can only score in the exhibitionist era by being even thicker than his predecessor on even larger wheels. You have to see that logo in a context of crazy attention grabbing and rooster symbolism that made even soulless crossovers an extension of the ego. That I’m done with it is one thing, I’m not the target group. But a little credibility is never lost when you start playing the hunk. Will we ever get rid of that ridiculous humbug and fattening?
Perhaps. The opposing forces are getting stronger. Most hopeful symptom of the turnaround; the comeback of the slim line. Look at the low-sitting, flowing irons unveiled this year and last year. The electric Mercedes EQS and EQE. The Hyundai Ioniq 6. The brilliant new Honda Civic, for me the discovery of 2022. And now even the first beautiful Toyota Prius is hitting that blessed road tight as a monkey and flat as a dime. Already in love with him.
I see the start of a trend that I would very much welcome. All of these are wind tunnel designs of the old school. Air resistance coefficient around 0.20. Mirror smooth carriages, recessed door handles except for the Civic; low, unobtrusive noses without stupidly oversized giant grille. In short: post-exhibitionist cars.
Good. Because the knife cuts both ways. It looks much nicer, and it drives nicer and quieter than one of those hunchbacked crossovers. That tactile contact with the road, the precise steering that no SUV can offer – I thoroughly enjoyed the Civic. Down with the high-rise, long live the streamliner 3.0. The rediscovery of the streamline is hopefully the renaissance of elegance. It was about time. God grant that the announced Alpine SUV never comes.
– Thanks for information from Autoweek.nl